Vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms in age-related macular degeneration in a Turkish population

AIM:To assess the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene.METHODS: The patients who were diagnosed with AMD were included in this prospective study. Three SNPs (rs1413711, rs2146323, and rs3025033) of the VEGF gene were genotyped by real-time polymerase chain reaction in the genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood samples of the 82 patients and 80 controls.RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of rs1413711 and rs2146323 were not significantly different between the study group and the control group (P=0.072 and P=0.058). However, there was a significant difference in the genotype frequencies of these SNPs between the wet type AMD and dry type AMD (P=0.005 and P=0.010, respectively). One of the SNPs (rs1413711) was also found to be associated with the severity of AMD (P=0.001) with significant genotype distribution between early, intermediate, and advanced stages of the disease. The ancestral alleles were protective for both SNPs while the polymorphic alleles increased the risk for dry AMD.CONCLUSION: VEGF SNPs rs1413711 and rs2146323 polymorphisms are significantly associated with AMD subtypes in our population.